How to audit, organise and clean up your mind whilst gaining confidence, clarity and success with a true sense of self.

What’s up guys,

The challenge that many of us face is apathy. Apathy stems from a lack of goals and personal beliefs; the kinds which get you excited about life and enable you to complete the hard work that is required. If you’re reading this then we can be pretty sure that apathy isn’t your primary affliction. Even if you can’t confirm your goals in detail then you have to know they are still there residing in your subconscious mind which has led you to be reading an article on their attainment. In this article I’m going to predict –with incredible accuracy! – What’s holding you back and how to remedy it. If you apply the practical steps from the following text then you can experience enhanced confidence, self-belief and a sense of satisfaction that will only assist in your drive for greatness.

So what’s the problem with the chosen few!? Well I’ve been considering this question recently: “why is it that high achievers or even just those with great ambition who are yet to undertake their journey, often suffer from a sense of restlessness and dissatisfaction? Why is it that the most successful people often base their self-confidence on fleeting external factors and engage in negative self-talk?

Guys with Spikes

Did you ever see the documentary ‘Enron, smartest guys in the room’? The company culture was such that the upper tier executives and CEO were hired on the grounds that they were ‘guys with spikes’ –extreme characters. Personality clusters of incredible salesmanship, manic depression, great interpersonal skills, callus ruthlessness and unhinged obsession. The underlying and shocking theme amongst many high flyers is usually some level of overabundant narcissism –at least in the beginning.

Definition of narcissism in English:

‘1.1 Psychology Extreme selfishness, with a grandiose view of one’s own talents and a craving for admiration, as characterizing a personality type.

1.2 Psychoanalysis Self-centredness arising from failure to distinguish the self from external objects, either in very young babies or as a feature of mental disorder.’ Oxford University Press. (2014).

Narcissism doesn’t provide any genuinely positive feelings but only an outward projection of success and excellence. Here’s the thing –without being too ‘Good Will Hunting’ about it- this affects everyone to some extent AND it isn’t your fault. It is also not necessarily a bad thing in its entirety. Everyone is narcissistic to a differing degree and there is actually thought to be a healthy level of narcissism, but it is common for anyone who has overcome hardship and/or trauma in early life to develop a high tendency for narcissistic expression. It is these traits that drive the person toward success but ultimately leave the individual feeling unfulfilled and with a sense of melancholy as their achievements are never enough. The confidence gained is fleeting as the victories are quickly forgotten and the next impossible goal becomes the all-consuming centre of the individuals waking reality. Author Stacey Scott Mae states succinctly what narcissism feels like in its worst and most overabundant form:

“The narcissist, cut off from her spirituality, is one who spends unquantifiable energy supporting and maintaining an utterly and completely fake self, in denial of one’s true self, trading it for glamour to compensate for a core of being that is simply wracked, a deep dark cold void; using and abusing others to maintain and sustain the false state. This fake self is contrived in absentia from the connectivity that even the most unaware take for granted. The narcissist doesn’t see other human beings.” ― Stacey Scott Mae

If you’re a high achiever and a strong willed survivor of trauma then that’s excellent but the individual must learn to gain awareness of narcissistic tendencies so that they may feel a sense of accomplishment and genuine happiness whist they succeed in life. We live in a world that is continually growing in narcissistic culture and preoccupation. We must find a way to achieve without becoming complicit and malignant within this system.

‘Unsurprisingly, narcissism levels have been rising for decades. Such increases pre-date social media but they have clearly exacerbated since its emergence.’

Self-growth: Developing genuine confidence, a sense of self and a new focus for success

As always let’s look at practical steps with as much simplicity as possible. These can be broken down into just four practises and are based around the theme of ‘recapitulation’. The great thing about this theme is that its veracity is confirmed by the amount that it is referenced and utilised in different schools of thought. Recapitulative practises are referred to by different names and with variation in method by Neuro Associative Conditioning, Toltec Healing, Dianetics and Regression Therapy.

Recapitulate as a ritual for negativity resolution:

This particular first section of the practice has Toltec origins with a chronological framework that I have implemented from Dianetics –in that the process will work from earliest memory and proceed forwards in time (L. Ron Hubbard Dianetics 1950). The basic method is to take inventory with a pen and paper of the significant events which have caused pain in your life. These events will fall into different categories for everyone ie: competitive experience, violent experience, relationship experience etc… Once this list is complete you can begin the ritual of working on one experience at a time to regain energy (or if you’re of a less spiritual disposition you could view this as neurological associative reconditioning exercise). This will proceed as follows:

Sit in quiet and non-distracting area and focus on breath. This would preferably be a darkened room as the sensory deprivation helps you to focus. Close your eyes in any case.

Chose one memory to work on at a time. You should work from the earliest memory first and continue forwards in time with each ritual. Play it through in details in your head. Notice detail, smell, taste etc.. Until you feel very connected and present within the memory. Notice rising emotions without judgement as a spectator.

See energy strands connected to your abdomen (again, if this sounds like hippy nonsense then just imagine for the sake of your neurological reconditioning that you are simply removing the negative emotional connection from the event).

Turn your head to the right and then as you turn to the left –slowly- inhale through the nose and gain back the positive energy you have expended to the experience and feel this entering back into your lower abdomen.

Now turn your head back to the right and exhale any negative emotions. Particularly from people, places, words and sounds that are external to yourself. This energy isn’t yours so you can just hand it back.

Continue this process for as long as you feel is necessary to restore and cleanse your energy –or recondition your neurological pathways!

Stop breathing and turn your head left then right then left then right quickly to sever the energy cords. The energy cord attached to yourself is glowing positive energy and re-enters your abdomen and the other half is now empty and translucent and disappears into the ground.

Recapitulate as a ritual for positivity confirmation:

Make an inventory of significant positive past events –recollect your achievements and victories. Make an energetic bond -or stronger neurological association to them! – By writing them down. You are likely to be so focused on your next goal that you will be surprised looking back at how much you have already achieved. The act of writing these out re-enhances your self-belief and goes some way towards calming feelings restlessness of running out of time. Don’t worry about ‘losing your drive’ this won’t happen as you will instead gain energy, confidence and direction from the positive practise you have engaged with.

Recapitulate as a meditative practise:

Performing a daily recapitulation meditation is a great habit to acquire. This practise will help you to realise and celebrate your achievements as well as to ‘increase your peace’ by resolving any issues or conflict you have encountered. It can be a long and thorough practise or a brief overview. Sit or stand in meditation and connect with the breath. Now play out the day’s events in motion, watching as if an independent observer. Anything need to be resolved? Write your next actions in your diary/planner. Anything achieved? Feel the positive energy and acknowledge your growth. This whole process could take as little as five minutes.

Gratitude Practise:

I’ve heard world renowned life coach Anthony Robins talk about his morning ritual including questions which induce gratitude i.e.: “what am I excited about?” This is a great practise and as you’re writing out your inventories and resolutions from recapitulation you might as well incorporate into the same book a few gratitude questions that you will begin everyday with. This practise can be taken a step further and each day can begin or end with writing an article of gratitude into your diary. Author Eckhart Tolle states in A New Earth: Awakening to Your Life’s Purpose that the key to all abundance in life is an attitude of gratitude.

Recapitulate as a ritual for negativity resolution: make an inventory of significant negative past events a. gain energy back b. sever energetic ties with the event.

Recapitulate as a ritual for positivity confirmation: make an inventory of significant positive past events a. gain energy from recollection b. Connect energetic ties with the events from putting into writing.

Recapitulate as a meditative practise: recognise your achievements and gain focus through the described meditation.

Keep a gratitude practise: This will enable a healthier attitude to be taken toward daily training and achievement. Achieve whilst being happy, because achieving to be happy doesn’t work.

So go forth, succeed more and feel better. The past wasn’t your fault but the present and future are your responsibility.

“Actually, we have no problems – we have opportunities for which we should give thanks… An error we refuse to correct has many lives. It takes courage to face one’s own shortcomings and wisdom to do something about them “– Edgar Cayce

Hey guys, I had some time off the trails a month ago due to a minor injury from a 24hr race and some work stuff that I’m focused on. During that time I actually unintentionally reduced my body fat due to a small life change I made. I’d say I decreased body fat down from the 7% it was last tested at to around about 6% and I actually don’t want it any lower than that -neither should you! I read Durian Riders book: Carb’ the f**k up! In this down time and whilst I’m not convinced that a fruitarian diet is optimal I did take on board a few new lifestyle habits that have really helped my training and –as Durian would say- my participation in daily reality. Some of those remaining habits I’m going to share with you today. Now I don’t recommend eating junk and doing no exercise or movement at all. To tell you the truth I ate ‘clean’, did a little yoga and ran about 3 miles twice a week for the month in question –but if you consider that I have a very sedentary day job, eat the food quantity of three people and was even eating an extra 100 grams of carbohydrate a day on top of my normal racing diet then you get the picture for why this small life adjustment was so damn pertinent. Here’s how you can pull it off in 5 steps:

Step 1: Drink water and ditch coffee/wine/beer (some of it anyway!). Drink a litre of water upon rising and a pint of water before going to sleep. The reason I started to incorporate this protocol was for the detoxification of the water passing through your system during the night and also for the fact that I felt like I wasn’t drinking enough water during the day time. The REAL benefit of this protocol though was the fact that the hydration and energising practise of consuming the water meant I had almost no desire to drink coffee (previously my favourite part of the day). You see I was screwing up my adrenals and augmenting my stress (see my article: ‘tea coffee and the plight of the adrenals: http://eatsleepgrowrepeat.com/tea-coffee-and-the-plight-of-the-adrenals/ ). I was consuming too much coffee –more than one cup a day… much more. I was also drinking wine every other day before bed which will further disrupt your sleep. This habit has now been replaced by drinking a bottle of mineral water in bed. The thing is, after reaching peak hydration you really won’t need the wine anymore –and if you did you would almost certainly consume far less.

Sigmund Freud, Civilisation and Its Discontents (1929): ‘Intoxication: we escape our displeasure by forgetting it, shunting it aside and turning to things like alcohol, drugs, etc. Here we treat the symptoms (our displeasure itself), not the causes (the reasons for our displeasure). As strategies of avoidance and denial, these can increase the real displeasure they are intended to circumvent. (Farthest from reality.)’

Step 2: I stopped going to bed at midnight and started hitting the lights at around 10pm. There is a big difference in the amount of melatonin secreted and absorbed if you make this change. The hardest thing for me was making the change until I started thinking about going to sleep earlier differently. Here is a list of resolutions to your probable concerns thus far:

“I can’t go to sleep earlier as I’m too busy!” –You get the time back the next morning and you will wake up feeling much less time pressure/stress. This in turn has made me much more productive and I’m sure it will do the same for you.

“I’m a night owl/not a morning person” –I was the most extreme case of not being a morning person but it all comes down to lifestyle and conditioning. We aren’t born one way and every moment is an opportunity to change.

“I need that time to relax” –As I touched on in resolution ‘a’ you get the relaxation/productivity time back the next morning. The real silver-lining of this point is that you can stare at blue screens all you want the next morning without this disrupting your sleep patter and you can enjoy the free time without this feeling of guilt that you are staying up late and screwing up your sleep/hormones/recovery.

The key for convincing myself to try an early night was that I stopped seeing it as a cost on my time and started seeing it as a trade of guilty/damaging night hours for relaxed/productive morning hours. I also stopped seeing it as a time to lay in bed bored and unable to sleep and started to see it as a time to lay in shavarsana and relax, think over some goals in my life, listen to an audio book for half an hour or even switch a side lamp on and read a book if I really couldn’t sleep. The reality is though, that I always slept almost immediately due to action taken in the next step…

Step 3: See the light and don’t see the light: At night time do not look at a blue screen and avoid overhead light at least an hour before bed. In the morning go outside and see the sun for a few minutes. This practise will help adjust you circadian rhythm and hormone response thus helping you feel like sleeping at night and feel like performing during the day time. This is a relaxing moment to think about the day ahead with your newfound time in the morning. I thought about doing this about a year ago when I was accompanying a smoker on an outdoor cigarette break and I thought to myself that I should make a time to stand outside and drink a green tea or something; to get some vitamin D and better adjust my circadian rhythm.

Step 4: Stay in bed for 7.5 – 9 hours a night and throw out your alarm clock wherever possible on the weekends: Increase the sleep to increase your fat loss and hormone optimization. I’m not going to go too much into the science because there is a whole host of biological processes that are actioned while you sleep. The main takeaway for me was: more melatonin, more cellular clean up and renewal and more testosterone. If you want to feel bullet proof and better able to deal with stressors such as deadlines, discipline, being around assholes, predisposition to depression/anxiety and hard exercise then more sleep and more testosterone is the answer. Wherever possible I just throw out the alarm clock (usually Saturday nights) as this not only gives you a completely natural and long sleep cycle but I also believe, in most cases, it indicates how in training debt you are. When I’m training and working hard I will often sleep solidly for ten hours but on easier weeks only nine. Bear in mind that there are exceptions to this as in the penultimate stage of adrenal fatigue you may feel less able to sleep- in a wired zombie like state.

Step 5: If you are in any state of adrenal fatigue (I estimate that almost everyone is at some level) then my advice is to sack off the ketosis and super low carbohydrate diet and give your adrenals a break by taking on board some additional carbohydrates during the day. I know there will be a few ketogenic athletes reading this who won’t want to do that and are performing well on low carb’ and that is fine BUT in my experience ketosis is so difficult to get right that even full time, very well informed athletes can’t always pull it off without screwing themselves up: see Ben Greenfield for example. For anyone with life stressors coming from work/family/exercise I believe you are much better off doing the tried and tested medium to high carbohydrate approach to life and training. If your adrenals are functioning optimally then you will sleep better and wake up much further recovered. You will have an enhanced ability to deal with your daily tasks. Bonus step 6: A cold shower/bath in the evening will assist with sleep, mood and fat loss even further but it isn’t a necessity unless you’re really struggling. So there it is. I don’t usually like anything with a title that implies you can get something for nothing or that you can get more by doing less as these assertions are usually flawed. The approach of getting more sleep to lose fat and optimise your experience and training is completely valid though. Indeed sleep IS training. If you have been struggling with weight and even with life itself then this may be the paramount solution –or at a least the best step in the right direction.

With last week’s closing of DC-10 and Sankey’s, Ibiza’s much loved clubbing season has finally come to an end. Thousands of people from all around the globe will be at their desks nostalgically yearning to be back at Café del Mar, losing themselves in the mesmerizing sight of the sun slowly sinking into the ocean as the perfect selection of Balearic, ambient sounds takes the beauty and emotion of the occasion to a higher level. Imagining a carefree version of yourself, cocktail in hand, gearing up for a night of excess with all your favourite DJs on some of the world’s most iconic dance floors and you might be ready to book your flight. The only decision now is where to stay, San An or Playa den Bossa? This is how everyone in Ibiza hopes you’re thinking, from the club owners and promoters to the ‘lucky lucky’ men selling sunglasses, watches and umbrella hats on the beaches of San Antonio, but is Ibiza really the only place to be? Or is the long-time king of club land’s crown starting to slip? Could the island of free love and life changing beats have sold is soul?

In August 1987, a London based DJ by the name of Paul Oakenfold decided to celebrate his 24th birthday by flying out to Ibiza to visit a couple of friends working on the isle. He was accompanied by Danny Rampling, Johnny Walker and Nicky Holloway, who were all involved in the club scene in London at the time. It was on the first night of the trip that they ran into another London DJ, Trevor Fung, who told them about a new drug called ecstasy and an amazing party at a venue in the middle of nowhere calling itself Amnesia, run by DJ Alfredo Fiorito. Alfredo was a music journalist from Argentina who left the country during the military dictatorship for Europe in search of better things, finally ending up in Ibiza via Paris and Madrid. It was in 1982, when Alfredo was earning his living selling candles and clothes, that a friend told him he was leaving the island for Thailand, gave him the keys to Amnesia and told him that he was now in charge. In those days Amnesia was little more than a farmhouse with a few tables and chairs and Alfredo was the only DJ, but despite this modest set up every morning the club would open at 3am and the party would rage until 12 noon. This was the place to go to after the clubs whether you were rich or poor, young or old, everyone was welcome and together created an atmosphere that would shape the future of electronic music across the globe. Things had progressed a little by the time Oakie and friends arrived as Ulises Braun describes ‘By 1987, Amnesia had six or seven bars and about half of them were rented out to people like me. Everything in Amnesia was spontaneous and different. It was a wild time. There were no laws: people were making love on the dance floor, drinking and dancing, taking litres of liquid ecstasy between them. It looked like a Federico Fellini movie; every personality was different.’ The decision to spend a large chunk of the little money they had on traveling miles to a club they’d never heard of would turn out to be the one of the best they ever made as Johnny Walker explains ‘We were under the stars, in the warm summer air, hearing this amazing mixture Alfredo was playing. In the middle of the open air dance floor was a mirrored pyramid, then around the edges were bars and chill out areas with cushions, and Mediterranean and tropical plants. It was high walled, like being in a tropical garden.’ But it wasn’t just the drugs, sex and spiritual vibe that affected the group, it was the music. As Oakenfold said ’In England at that time, clubs only played one type of music, and London was full of attitude. But at Amnesia you had 7,000 people dancing to Cyndi Lauper. Total freedom.’ It’s no surprise that within five months of being back in London, three ground-breaking new clubs opened, Oakenfolds ‘Spectrum, Ramplings ‘Shroom’ and Nicky Hollways ‘Trip’. The nights went from strength to strength but the group never forgot who was behind their success, Alfredo. Oakenfold flew him over to London on several occasions, Alfredo still being up for a party even after playing every night for seven months!

Fast forward to the summer of 2014 and my own trip to Amnesia, for one of the islands most successful ever club nights, Cream. Tickets were between €45 and €60 but the real horror is the drink pricing once inside the venue. Two rum and cokes will set you back a further €40 and a bottle of water so small you won’t find it in any shop is €10. Don’t think you can just go and get yourself a drink from the tap in the toilets as you will be treated to dehydrating, warm, salt water. No chance of finding a seat to cool down either as the only seating is for the disinterested VIPs looking down from the balconies above. Even the camel and bed that used to be at the back of the terrace has been removed to make way for another money making bar. The terrace is a historical name as the venue now has no open air spaces after a roof was added making it appear more like a warehouse than a Mediterranean paradise. The music was still amazing and the sound system incredible, but the atmosphere is nothing like it was even when I first went in 2001. As Paul Van Dyk left the decks at 4am, John O’Callaghen stepped up to take the music to another level but the dance floor didn’t reflect this as a few people started to drift away throughout his set. I’m not sure how this was even possible as we were glued to the dance floor for 2 hours of hypnotic trance and techno, delivered through the legendary chest vibrating Amnesia V-prof sound system and accompanied by constant freezing cold blasts from the ten ice canons so famous they have their own Facebook page! By the time Adam Ellis took control to finish off the night the dance floor was down to the die-hards, a far cry from the days of Alfredo as Ulises Braun reminisces ‘When Alfredo stopped the music, people started to scream: ‘Alfredo! Alfredo!’

What truly concerns me however is the atmosphere at Amnesia was actually a lot better than it had been the previous night at Pacha for ‘Aoki’s Playhouse’. When I arrived Tommy Trash was banging out his usual adrenaline fuelled big room house sound to a disinterested crowd of wannabe super models and Italian footballers. It was, much to my dismay, actually uncomfortable to be on the dance floor for Trashes set, being in the midst of a sea of bored or at best blank faces. I was approaching the decision to leave but I’m glad I didn’t as everything changed when Steve Aoki finally hit the decks. The club suddenly transformed from resembling a station packed full of commuters awaiting their delayed train to a super club with a richly deserved global reputation for putting on nights you will never forget, if indeed you remembered them in the first place! Still, I couldn’t help but think to myself that this is not what Ibiza is about; it’s never been about going to a famous club to see a famous DJ, posting a selfie on Facebook, and then going home at the end of the set. Thankfully Steve Aoki himself still encompasses the old Ibiza spirit as he joined me on the dance floor at the end of his set and danced amongst the crowd until 7am appeared without warning, the music stopped and it was time to step out under the painfully bright morning sky and begin to try and work out how we would ever get back to San An.

Two days after I got back to England I read that Orlando Bloom had been involved in a fist fight with Justin Bieber in a restaurant on the Island, the article mentioned the likes of Kim Kardashian and Paris Hilton being there at the time and I wondered how the four of them would have coped at Amnesia in 1987. Overall my sixteenth trip to the White Isle had been great, it definitely hadn’t been cheap and hadn’t been as good as in the past, but I still wouldn’t swap it for a week of cheap shots and dubious girls in Magaluf or stag infested pub crawls in Benidorm so maybe there really is no viable alternative to Ibiza? Maybe the clubs can try and price out the average clubber in favour of celebs but we’ll just have to save a bit harder, work a few more shifts and have a few more cheap nights in and head back again next summer regardless. But not everyone is thinking this way. New club scenes are emerging around the world… If you want big, glamorous, multi-million dollar venues and daily pool parties with regular A-list DJ’s, Las Vegas might be the place for you. If it’s the open air, hippy beach vibe you’re chasing then Thailand or Goa might be worth looking into. For the original free love Ibiza experience, the Burning Man festival in the Nevada Desert is the ultimate rebellion against overpriced, celebrity commercialism. The bad news is they are all so far away and the flights are so expensive. The good news? There may yet be another alternative.

Mark Broadbent was the former programmer at seminal Ibiza event “We Love”, but as he explains “I left what for some would have been the dream job of programming one of the best parties in the world due to a lack of enthusiasm in the way things are heading in Ibiza. A very different kind of clubber now comes here than 10 years ago, but Ibiza needs this kind of tourist to sustain the growth made during these past 10 years. The face of Ibiza has now changed … and there are now other places to visit if you want to recapture that hippie/free spirit we once loved here so much many moons ago.” So where is Mark now? He’s resurfaced in Croatia as chief promoter for The Garden Festival’s off-site, open-air venue, Barbarella’s, and he’s not the only one making the switch from Ibiza to Croatia. Croatia now hosts over 20 summer festivals, including Hideout, which has exploded onto the European festival scene. One of Hideouts founders, Dan Blackledge, a former promoter in Ibiza himself, does not think comparisons between the two are fair “I think people are saying that because it’s another destination that’s getting increasingly popular and has electronic music but, in my opinion, it is completely different to Ibiza. It’s new, it’s fresh, and you can dance outside, all day until 6 in the morning under the stars, next to the sea, next to the mountains and forests. I don’t know anywhere in Ibiza that you can do that anymore.” Even Ibiza legend Richie Hawtin is beginning to think there might be something special developing in Croatia “There’s a lot of talk about whether Croatia is the next ‪#‎TechnoTourist‬ destination, specially with Ibiza starting its slow course to re-invent itself more as a VIP than a tourist destination,” the ENTER head honcho ponders in a new Facebook post. ‬‬”If Friday night was any test of that then perhaps these rumours of Croatia are true. The Sonus Festival, it’s incredibly curated line-up of top electronic talent & world class production …was a lightning rod of the energy and happiness that can be created when you combine great open-air venues, cool people and amazing music.”

All this talk of Croatia prompted Ibiza-Spotlight.com to send reporter Francesca Evans over to examine the truth behind the hype. She concluded ‘A festival capital by all means and if anything, Croatia is a nod to the old White Isle. But think of Croatia as the sparkling rocket, whizzing ahead in to everyone’s conscience, while Ibiza is the slow burning Catherine Wheel, still as bright and as beautiful as always. There’s enough room for the two fireworks in dance music’s display’ Maybe so, but if Ibiza doesn’t re-evaluate its current path soon, it may finally burn out forever.

Jamie Rylett

For more Ibiza discussion, make sure you check out the Ibiza special episode of my podcast Eat Sleep Grow Repeat with special guest Chicane at: http://eatsleepgrowrepeat.com/chicane-ibiza-special-edition/

Here at eatsleepgrowrepeat we literally live out the philosophy that is implied by the name. Whether it’s competing in Jiu Jitsu and Ultra marathon, interviewing legends, attending seminars and training camps with the world’s best in their field, or even just hanging out with the worlds greatest DJs as Jamie Rylett did last month at Chicanes place in Ibiza. It’s not all sunshine and blue sky though. I was struggling for inspiration for this month’s article when the person I was speaking with via skype implied –only half tongue in cheek- that I sometimes behave somewhat conceitedly –‘Holding or characterized by an unduly high opinion of oneself; vain.’ (Farlex, free dictionary). And so it’s because of this that I felt compelled to bring you a snap shot of the lowest point in my daily life: it’s a well-known fact that only a jackass wears sunglasses indoors so why on earth am I doing it?

About four years ago I leveraged charm and social skills for the purposes of chasing cash. Rather than living authentically and pursuing everything through passion I was compelled to manipulate and falsely represent myself on more than one occasion… and Karma catches up to you…

So I’m sorry… but only for myself! It was this misrepresentation that has years later led me to occasionally put brightly coloured or classic raybans on indoors whilst I make my most difficult phone calls. I hate this part of my work so much that by donning the glasses it somehow takes the edge of it –I’m less able to take the experience seriously… Does that count as a bio-hack?

So I write this article to condense everything I’ve ever read in life coaching, goal setting, self-help and the psychology of performance to put something out there that so succinct; so reduced; so much so as it is enough that anyone who’s struggling can pick it up and immediately behold an 8 point plan for the rest of their life. I want everyone to be spending their time doing the stuff in the opening lines and not wearing sun glasses indoors because it’s just completely ridiculous that anyone would do that.

Here’s the last 8 things you’ll ever need to read to change your situation. The last 8 things to change your life forever.

1. Know thyself: Self-knowledge is the first step on the journey of life. You can’t confidently make a single decision without knowing oneself, so journey within. Meditate and expand your spiritual net by all means but also take small practical steps in the early stages of your development. Each person is unique but this could include online personal profiling tests, a therapist, traveling with the purpose of self-exploration –maybe Julia Roberts will star in a horrifically bad movie about your experience! Something everyone can do is to improve their diet; this will have an incredibly profound effect on your mental clarity.

2. Karma is a bitch, so don’t tell lies: Don’t lie to others because you’re looking for external validation or gratification. Most of all don’t lie to yourself ie: ‘No I’m sure there is a way I could enjoy this job as a lawyer… I know I hated law all through college but… I just think that maybe this will somehow change. I just need to wake up a little earlier and… maybe buy some more expensive shoes… I will buy an awesome car that will make it all seem worthwhile’ look up ‘magical thinking’ and make sure you never do it! Follow your passion and the money and lifestyle will follow automatically.

3. Give yourself a break so you can make a master plan: I was screwing around racing pretty fast half marathons and lifting weights with no clear structure for ages before I finally gave myself a night off to make a training plan. I sat down and took as long as I needed to create a very specific, clear and measurable training program as well as to enter my first ultra distance race. This was one of a few major turning points in my training career. Don’t just toil away and think that if you’re consistently training ‘hard’ that you will somehow come out of the other side as a: insert chosen athlete or career role here, it won’t happen without a plan.

4. Practise motivation: Motivation is required daily not just on race day, or interview day or fight night as people assume. Improving your circumstances will come in the painful moments of waking up earlier, staying out on the trails longer, lifting an extra kilogram or choosing the salad over a cheese burger.

5. Live stoic: ‘a nation is born stoic and dies epicurean’ (Will Durrant). To build something great we must often relinquish the easy road to pleasure in the present moment and put in the hours to achieve some level of transcendence. I remember getting in from work late and going for a 12 mile run around midnight in the rain this year. I also now know the feeling of being able to go out and smash running PR’s over any distance. Be patient and keep pursuing your passion even when you don’t feel compelled to.

6. Get around great people: It’s said that you turn into the five people you are around the most. Be around better people! A great way to ‘cheat’ on this process is to read. Tai Lopez of the ‘Grand Theory of Everything’ podcast speaks frequently about reading to obtain the voices of experts within your mind.

7. Know that you’re supposed to experience this: From a very Eckhart Tolle spiritual perspective it may be said that everything we experience is what is intended for us. The universe is giving you exactly what you need in the moment. Every moment. Embrace it and learn from it. Maybe you need to be around assholes for a while to develop patience. Maybe you needed to be stuck in a dead-end job long enough to spur you into the action of reading this article and beginning a journey of self-improvement.

8. Know you’re one of the chosen few: It’s a very small part of the population who read articles like this. All you need to do now is grab a pen and paper and take immediate action, make a plan and hold yourself accountable. You’re one who heard the calling so hold yourself to a higher standard.

This won’t be the last piece you’ll ever read on self-development but it’s really all you’ll ever need on a base level. Start your plan and start living your life. If you’re ever out of balance, uninspired or just flat out hating life then just check back through these 8 items, one of them will have been overlooked.
So I wish you all the best.

I’m a big fan of personal growth via external reality. This means that I look for outside sources of information to enhance my understanding of the world and my journey within it. In much the same way as you are now experiencing by reading this article.

There should, however, come a time in each day where we go ‘within’; a time where we meditate to synthesise and process information. The human experience will consist of countless images, thoughts, experiences, emotions, dreams and lessons. We should find a space in which to reduce down the volume; a space in which we can elucidate our reality and consciousness; a space to connect with that which was here before our physical body and will continue in its passing. That is why 40 days ago, I undertook a daily humming meditation practise called Jai Release.

The problem is that meditation is hard!

So in this article you will find five cutting edge ideas that will fix, enhance and refine your meditative experience. After struggling with meditation in the beginning I have found these five methods to be invaluable.

The 4 Massages

This is a series of therapeutic and relaxing techniques taught to me by one of Americas top trainers: Steve Maxwell. The one ‘massage’ that I employ before a meditation session is to stand with good posture but very little tension. Raise up on your toes and then drop down quite heavily on to your heels allowing your shoulders to sag and bounce, your knees to bend a little (about half an inch to an inch perhaps), your head to nod a little and your arms to bounce around to some extent. Repeat this process lightly, in a relaxed state at an approximate rate of two bounces a second. You will look somewhat like a fighter loosening up before a match. You can ever turn this into a walking drill by taking very small shuffling steps forward.

I was fairly sceptical of the benefits of this technique until I tried it at one of Steve Maxewell’s seminars. I was then amazed at how effective this simple practise was at transforming your physical and mental state. After a minute or so of this you will feel loose, relaxed and much more ready to enter into meditation.

NB: Podcast interview with Steve Maxwell will be released around September 2014 on www.eatsleepgrowrepeat.com Or alternatively look up the podcast on itunes.

Passion Flower Extract

Passion flower extract is a calming and soothing plant extract. I occasionally use it as a key to enhance my ‘decompression’ during my far too infrequent leisure time. This extract can be used to treat muscle spasms, ADHD, anxiety and insomnia and so you can see how taking a small dose of the extract prior to a meditation session would be beneficial to calming a tense body and busy mind.

Hot and Cold Thermogenesis

There are a tonne of benefits to exposing yourself to alternations between hot (preferably a sauna) and cold (shower, pool, lake etc…) environments. Aside from things like enhanced ability to burn fat and reduced recovery time for your physical body thermogenesis has been shown to enhance mental clarity, ability to deal with stress and an uplift in mood. A series of Thermogenisis rounds may be exactly what you require before a meditation session.

Use the Same Space

Experienced spiritualist, yogi and meditation practitioner Julie Piatt of Jai Release, healing and being meditation recommends using the same space as the energy gathers to create a supportive environment for your meditation. Even if such a suggestion were to be perceived as unlikely by a person with a very sceptical and shall we say ‘physical reality’ based perception, it is possible to still understand and adopt Julies recommendation by accepting that in using the same area to meditate the brain will become conditioned to entering a similar state of being.

Stopping Judgment

One central theme of the Jai Release Meditation Program I undertook was not to judge the experience. Thoughts such as: ‘that was a great meditation!’ or ‘that was a poor meditation, maybe I’m too distracted to continue a practise’ are all based within the ego. Just commit to practise for a period of time without any judgement and continuous analysis or assessment.

After beginning a daily practise I did not anticipate the amount of difficulty I would experience or also the great mental transcendence effects I have experienced. I was able to transcend much of the difficulty by employing the above fixes and always reconnecting with my breathing in the moment. I’m not recommending using all five every time you practise though! After all, Sometimes a busy schedule will dictate that there was no time for a session of thermogenesis. I also don’t believe that being completely dependent on passion flower extract to decompress would be a good thing but the above items will almost certainly assist in getting you into a meditative state and keeping your there.

So with these new tools at hand what can we finally say of meditation to summarise and conclude? What is the overarching concept that we must always bear in mind? Well, it’s probably described by Julie Piatt…

‘Most importantly, just do it’

Consistency is always the key so go forth and use the five fixes. Meditate each day!

‘Your vision will become clear only when you can look into your own heart. Who looks outside, dreams; who looks inside, awakes.’

I’m a big fan of single origin, light to medium roast, semi wash, fermented and dry cracked beans from India, Java Indonesia or elsewhere and there are indeed some major health benefits to drinking coffee. Besides the short term feeling of uplift from the caffeine, there is evidence to suggest that consumption of coffee can reduce incidence of Alzheimer’s in later life and will also quicken metabolism.

With this being said there are a few reasons that I will be switching off from coffee for the next month and probably looking to reduce my consumption indefinitely –to around one cup a day during the week. To put it as non-scientifically as possible, coffee will awaken you by squeezing your adrenal glands to produce the adrenalin hormone. The problem occurs in that modern life also squeezes our adrenals pretty frequently with work, life and exercise stress and it is the combination of coffee alongside life stresses that combine to really strain the adrenal glands and actually make that specific stressful situation feel a whole lot worse. Adrenal fatigue, in short, will screw up your hormones and your sleep leaving you feeling exhausted.

So the plan for the morning is to use yerb mate –much like ultra endurance legend Scott Jurek. Yerba mate is a plant with origins in South America that contains caffeine in significantly lower levels than coffee and also contains the stimulants theobromine and theophylline. I actually prefer the stimulant effect of yerba mate over coffee as it feels like a calmer high. The tea provides the minerals potassium, magnesium and manganese alongside antioxidants and is also thought to improve mood, enhance sleep, reduce inflammation and the support the immune system.

In the afternoon and evening I am going to make time for consumption of pu-erh tea. This is an ancient Chinese fermented dark tea that evidence has shown can lower LDL and increase HDL cholesterol, aid in weight loss, reduce inflammation, provide antioxidants, and improve circulation. Pu-erh tea has a history of use in tea ceremonies and resultant of its deep roots and higher altitude cultivation –if wild or non-mono cultivated- it can be thought that upon consumption you are literally drinking the weather and the natural environment itself. Tea master WuDe recently spoke of this concept on the Rich Roll Podcast and I would highly recommend checking out the episode for more information on this topic. Interestingly WuDe answered a question on the purely physical benefits of drinking this tea by addressing only its stress reducing benefit if drank in a conscious manner –being in the moment of the act itself. I think WuDe didn’t want to address the micronutrient profile so as not to diminish this spiritual and mental benefit as every known disease is either enhanced or created from stress. If we actually think about this increase of pu-erh consumption in place of coffee in eastern terms then we are increasing our yin to balance our yang.

So there it is guys, give your adrenals a break, drink yerba mate and pu-erh tea but most importantly:

‘Realize deeply that the present moment is all you have. Make the NOW the present focus of your life.’ Eckhart Tolle –The Power of Now

Hey guys, I had someone recently say to me that eatsleepgrowrepeat should keep it’s podcasts shorter and that the articles written for this site -movement/team/underground cult that prays on those bored with ‘average’- should be comparably streamlined. George Orwell anyone? ‘The streamlined men who talk in slogans and think in bullets’ –1984 Well listen, I like the long format conversation. I enjoy, respect and often share in the approach of those who are willing to commit to the distance, throw out the short cuts and invest the time – has anyone ever actually met someone with four minute abs? But on this occasion in which I’m jet lagged, over worked and over trained I’ll abide by the advice of our aforementioned detractor and keep this one pretty succinct. I’m going to tell you about the idea and just one practical application and then follow it with a few subsequent articles that will elucidate the matter further. I’m going to tell you about a simple concept that will improve your health with a greater abundance of locally sourced, organic earth grown nutrients whilst simultaneously saving you money, encouraging a more primal life style and protecting our natural habitat. Here’s what I’m talking about: foraged food. There’s actually people out there eating diets consisting of 50%, 90% and even 100% foraged food sources that I’m sure are experiencing physical, mental and spiritual levels of health way beyond that of the normal population. I’m going to apply this idea to my diet under the same conceptual umbrella that I already train and eat: with simplicity. Don’t fall into the danger of seeking constant variety and never getting anything completed or consistent. Instead find something effective that you enjoy and apply/practise/consume it over and over again. Become a perfectionist; A connoisseur. And with that ladies and gents’ I present you with our most easily sourced ingredient: The Dandelion. The dandelion is a source of calcium, iron and vitamins A and C .This micronutrient combination is beneficial for the immune system, vision and skin amongst other things. And here’s the application potential:

Well I’ve finally done it! Eat Sleep Grow Repeat is up and running! What started off as just one of many ideas discussed during the weekly marathon post-training coffee shop session with my co-presenter Ben Harrison had finally become reality. I know if you are reading this then it’s very likely you are the sort of person who to has an idea that you have just not got around to working on yet. You probably have a lot of good reasons for this to. Maybe you have a high pressured job or all your spare time is going towards training for a marathon or bike race. It could be the kids? The new dog? Or maybe you honestly just don’t know where to start? Believe me when I say I get it, I’ve made similar excuses myself for years. If I had to write a down a list of reasons I couldn’t do this podcast it would have been easy. I could tell myself that I have stressful job and time spent working on this is time I’m not earning money and hitting targets. It’s also time I’m not working towards my 2014 aim of improving my Jiu-jitsu. I could think ‘do you even know how to do this? You have no equipment, your computer skills are limited plus you’ve never worked in media and have no contacts and no-one to help you.’ I could carry on but you get the point. So how did I get past these excuses and actually finally get it done? Well it wasn’t easy.

Getting focused

When I first started working on this project I had no idea where to start so in order that I was actually doing something I just started working on everything at once. I didn’t even know what everything was as I didn’t know what was needed. It was like someone just building a house without so much as deciding what it would look like first. This is not just one of the least efficient ways you could work on a project but is also the most stressful! Some nights I would be working several tasks at once without fully understanding how to do any of them. I would start to be swallowed by the magnitude of the task in front of me and at times thought it was impossible and maybe I should just quit. Then I decided to make two excel sheets which would refocus my efforts. I have to thank Chase Amante for the first and his article ‘The 100 Hour Rule’. Chase is primarily a pick up artist but is also a successful entrepreneur and has some great articles on his site www.girlschase.com. The idea behind the article is that you pick one thing that you want to do and invest 100 hours into it. This could be anything from writing a book to learning yoga. After you have completed 100 hours in your chosen pursuit then you are free to make a decision on whether you want to carry on with it or you’ve decided it’s not for you. The genius of this system is whatever you choose and whatever the outcome you still walk away a winner. For example if you choose to learn Krav Maga after a 100 hours of lessons you are going to know a lot more about self-defence than you did before. Obviously I chose working on the podcast and used a simple excel sheet to record the hours I put in, though a notebook would have been just as effective if you don’t have excel access / knowledge.

“Put the army in the face of death where there is no escape and they will not flee or be afraid – there is nothing they cannot achieve.” – Sun Tzu

Obviously Sun Tzu is not talking about the trouble putting together his website here but is actually saying that when a man knows he is on ‘Death Ground’ he will fight with everything he has to win. Sun Tzu would make sure his army’s had no escape route so that the only way they would survive would be to complete their objective and win the battle. He knew that people often responded best when their backs were against the wall. I decided to implement a scaled down version of this mantra in order to complete my project. I wrote down everything that needed to be done and wrote a date that I had to get it done by next to it. I then put the list in order (this is why personally I find it easier to do this on Excel than paper) and went through ticking off every small task in order until the site was completed. It’s very important if you are going to use this method that you make sure the dates you select are realistic. Take a bit of time to compare the dates against your work and social commitments, are you really going to get chapter 5 of your book written while you eat your dinner or during the pub quiz? If realistically the answer is no then don’t put this in your schedule. Things often take longer than you think so it is best to leave yourself some leeway as getting really far behind on your list is going to be demotivating. To make sure you stick to these dates you can set yourself up with some sort of reward or punishment depending on what motivates you. I’ve heard ideas like giving a friend some money and telling them to spend it if you haven’t hit your target. There’s also websites out there you can use that donate the money to a charity or organization you don’t approve of if you don’t have any trust worthy friends! I didn’t do any of these as for me just getting the podcast done before my next trip to America was my motivation but they may work for you.

If you set your bar at “amazing,” it’s awfully difficult to start. — Seth Godin

I’m always saying how positive an impact podcast have had on my life and that’s also true when it came to getting focused. It was listening to a podcast that introduced me to James Clear who describes himself as an entrepreneur, weight lifter and photographer. He also writes twice weekly news letters and I would recommend to everyone that you subscribe to these through his website www.jamesclear.com. One of the best pieces of advice came from his post on ‘The Power of Imperfect Starts’ where he talks about the very real dangers of procrastination:

‘When you’re an entrepreneur, it’s so easy to get obsessed with optimal. This is especially true at the start. I can remember being convinced that my first website would not succeed without a great logo. After all, every popular website I looked at had a professional logo. I’ve since learned my lesson. Now my “logo” is just my name and this is the most popular website I’ve built.’

At the time of writing this I have the same logo issue amongst a few other little improvements I want to make to the site and podcast. I could have delayed the launch whilst I looked into making all these slight improvements but I decided it was more important to get the product out, after all I don’t think there will ever be a time when there is nothing that can be improved plus I can always make these little improvements later on. In his book ‘The Four Hour Work Week’ Tim Ferriss talks about the life changing effect ‘Pareto’s Law’ ( commonly called the ‘80 / 20 Principle’) has had on his life. As Tim explains in the book ‘Paretos Law can be summarised as follows: 80% of the outputs result from 20% of the inputs’. These small issues were obviously not part of the fundamental 20% of work that had to be done to get the podcast off the ideas board and onto the internet.

The importance of constraints

Dr Seuss’s book Green Eggs and Ham has sold over 200 million copies making it one of the most successful children’s books of all time and his most popular piece of work, but did you know that it was written using serious constraints? He had accepted a bet that he couldn’t write an entertaining children’s book using only 50 different words. Whatever it is that you are working on it is always possible to add more words, to do more research, to try another font, change the picture or whatever it may be that’s stopping you from finishing the project. Give yourself some constraints I guarantee they will help. Personally I use constraints to keep me from getting distracted which is something that can easily happen, especially if you are working at home. Unfortunately my mobile phone has become a massive distraction and I find it very easy to slip into checking Facebook, my emails or replying to that text that just came through. To stop this I now split my time in one hour blocks and the end of the hour is signalled by my phone alarm, so now it is helping rather than hindering my efforts. I make sure I have everything I need, set the alarm and then until it goes off I can’t do anything except what I’m supposed to be doing. No joining in with the latest Whats App thread discussing plans for Saturday night, no making a green tea, no checking the football score, nothing until the hour is up. Then take a break and get that snack or whatever it was you’ve been wanting to do for the last half an hour! Have your little break then make sure you have everything you need and repeat. If you’re worse than me with your phone then you could always do the unthinkable and actually switch it off for an hour! Luckily I’ve not reached the stage of having to do that yet.

What are you waiting for? Get started!

You’ve now got all the information you need to get organised so get you plan together and get started! Remember if you’re focused and have a plan it doesn’t matter if you can only spend 15 minutes a day on your project, 15 minutes is way better than nothing. If you did only 15 minutes a day for one year that’s over 91 hours putting you well on your way to finishing off your 100 hour challenge and in the process finally getting it done.

Ever stopped to consider how much of your time you spend preparing food…? As an athlete or even as a simple functioning humanoid incarnate in our marvellous post-modern metropolis the answer is almost certainly that you spend a significant amount of your day dedicated to preparation of meals that are nutrient dense and satiating. If this isn’t the case then you’re wasting a lot of your training efforts and setting yourself up for health issues in the near future so eat clean, speed your recovery and enable yourself for your next workout. In the following text I’m going to tell you how you can eat an incredibly time efficient and low cost diet that tastes great and will have achieving your athletic goals –whether you’re trying for fat loss, ketosis, fat adaptation, mass gain, anti-inflammation, a more paleo style nutritional approach or just trying to step your game up from pop-tarts and instant coffee to better general health.

I hear you say “I don’t have time”. Trust me guys I can relate –I’m training for an Ultra Marathon whilst trying to maintain my game as a Sales Executive and I still find time to live a social lifestyle –it isn’t easy BUT after a couple of years experimenting with my diet I have come up with a formula and approach which saves me HOURS – I can now run more, work more, party longer, spend less time shopping and save some cash on grocery bills. Here’s what gave me the idea for the main pillar of my diet: ever hear about Soylent? The story in short is that an American computer scientist created a one-stop-shop formula that you would consume on it’s own for every meal which would provide you with all your daily nutrient requirements. My issue with this is that everyone’s requirements are different –for example I just looked at the vitamin D level and it’s far too low for someone living in the northern hemisphere. I also don’t imagine that it tastes very good and isn’t very close to the ‘earth grown’ philosophy that I try to eat by predominantly – nature don’t get things wrong.

Now although I don’t like the product I do like the idea as a time saver so I came up with the below recipe in which you can make enough for a week in about 5 minutes preparation time –preferably on a Sunday.

The ‘runfardreambig chia based mix’

Almonds

Cashews

Hazelnuts

Brazilnuts

Milled Flax seed

Golden Flax seeds

Sunflower seeds

Chia seeds

Dried coconut

Goji Berries

Cinnamon (loads!)

Sweet powder: Maca powder or Mesquite powder or ground cocoa nibs

Just smash or blend it up to your own preference –chunky or finely ground- and use whatever quantities you want although I’d say take it easy on the brazil nuts (no more than about 15) and go big on the chia seeds and cinnamon. Then just add milk, though obviously not commercial diary, I’d recommend hemp milk, coconut milk, almond milk, raw goats milk etc…

The recipe for Low carbohydrate

The mix will enable you to stay in ketosis or fat adaptation as goji berries aren’t the bulk of the recipe and have low sugar for a dried fruit (they also have medicinal properties and a host of other health benefits related to their consumption). The cinnamon and fats also slow digestion and thus further prevent an insulin spike from the berries.

I structure my day to be very low carb before training in the evening to induce fat adaptation and my last meal –post training at night- will be a high carbohydrate backload. So in the morning when I want fats and protein I can mix coconut oil into the recipe or even make it with coconut cream. The reality is that I usually just make it with hemp milk and have a black coffee alongside with coconut oil stirred into it.

The recipe for High carbohydrate (carb- loading)

As stated above my last meal of the day is high carbohydrate to replace glycogen after training. Mostly this meal for me consists of a massive bowl, enough for about three people, of rice and black beans with heaps of vegetables stir fried in grass fed butter. There are however a few times during the week where I won’t have time for the stir fry and so I will use the runfardreambig chia base mix with loads of added fresh fruit. I personally really like dates, prunes and bananas but go for whatever you want and go big! It’s very hard to put on body fat with the carbohydrate backload structure. During these days I sometimes feel like I haven’t taken in enough greens and so I’ll just shot some wheatgrass at some point during the day.

So that’s it guys, make it at home, take it on the road with you, eat it for breakfast, lunch, dinner, before training, after training and even eat it as a trail mix during your endurance training if your stomach can handle it…